The Sad Story of the Prince and his Princess
by n1t3sama
Summary: A collection of GinRan shorts. Newly updated story 4, The Black Mamba: Rangiku's poisons of choice are alcohol and Gin.
1. Ohayou

A/N: This one has a different tone than the first two, probably because it's more Gin POV. PLEASEEE review if you like it.

.

* * *

Rangiku really did look like a goddess that morning.

It was early still. The sun had only just risen, the orange-pink light streaming through the large windows, reflecting off the bare walls. Especially for a captain's suite, the room was sparsely furnished. Only a mattress lay on the floor with undecorated white sheets. There was nothing else in the room except for two swords and two uniforms in a pile in the corner, reflecting their hasty removal the night before.

The sunlight brightened, streaming in and hitting her at just the correct angle, framing her long blonde waves like a soft sheath around her body. The light fell in her eyes and she squirmed before sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, wide open and taking in the world. Her pink lips parted slightly as she stifled a yawn, stretching, every bit the wonder-eyed child she was in Rukongai.

She oriented herself, her eyes falling on the half empty sake bottle propped up next to Haineko and a half-naked Gin looking at her with a mischievous smile as he pulls on his uniform. Comprehension dawns and her hazel eyes light up with scattered memories of the night before. Pure pleasure.

The only thing between him and her is the sheer white sheet she holds lazily over her curves with one hand as she looks at him seductively. Whether the look is intentional or not, decades of longing and passion escaping in one glance, he doesn't bother to dwell on.

"Good morning," she said, her voice still deep from sleep. The phrase is almost like a question, filled as it is with suggestion and possibility.

He really wanted to pull the sheet off and ravage her (again. repeatedly.) It's any man's dream, the fantasy of half the straight men in Sereitei. Gin felt a heady rush of half pride and half lust. He is, after all, only a man.

But he settled for an imperceptible wink of apology and one last look at the beautiful sight in his bed. He was gone in a flash-step.

.

_Can't keep Aizen-sama waitin', ya see._


	2. His Wistful Smile

_Once upon a time, a boy came home to find a little girl sick with a fever. He stayed by her side for two days without sleeping until her delirium subsided and she was eating properly again. The only coherent word she said during those two days was his name. Later, she would swear the reason she got better was because as she faded in and out of consciousness, she was anchored to life by a thin little boy holding her hand._

Rangiku's first thought, as she wakes up with a pounding headache, is that she's experiencing the worst hangover of her life. She squints her eyes, shielding them from the light. The walls of her room look especially white today, like a... hospital?

She opens her eyes and sees that she is, in fact, in a hospital bed, and_ Gin?! _is sitting on a chair next to her bed.

Gin smiles as Rangiku opens her eyes.

Rangiku smiles back sedately. She decides this is a silly dream, as Gin is far too clothed, but as she futilely attempts to wake up, trying to sit upright, a jolt of pain runs down her back, and suddenly she remembers passing out after fighting an arrancar. And she realizes that this is not a dream.

One thing, however, does not make sense to her. Gin shouldn't be there. She remembers Gin left (again).

"Gin," Rangiku says bitterly, at once wishing that she were dreaming again, as dreams are the only place Gin belongs now.

"Good mornin' ," Gin says, as happily as ever.

Rangiku wants to shout at him for being so calm, but instead she ignores him and steels her voice, "I could scream right now, and Hitsugaya-taichou and the other captains would be here in seconds to kill you."

Gin is smiling acidly, "What are ya waitin' for?"

"Get out, Gin."

Gin's smile never fades, "Ran-chan, first ya gotta let go of my hand."

Rangiku looks away, because it's fine to say things she doesn't mean, but she will never again be the one to let go first.

"Gin, why do you keep coming back?" she asks, because she's sick of asking why he ever has to leave and he never tells her anyway.

"Ya were yellin' for me in yer sleep an' I could hear it the world over," he says, and he smiles, a real smile, as he makes a silly high voice to imitate her, "Gin pig-head! Gin pig-head!"

Rangiku blushes, and for a second, she allows herself to enjoy the moment. Her head may be pounding, wrapped tightly in bandages, and her back may feel like there are a thousand needles poking her, but Gin is next to her, smiling in the sunlight and holding her hand, and that makes everything feel better.

But all too soon, the moment is over, she has to wake up from her dream.

"Gin," she asks very quietly, "Why?"

As she looks at him, blinking, commanding the tears not to spill out of her eyes, she senses Hitsugaya-taichou's spiritual pressure, along with Momo and Kira's.

Gin, once he realizes she has sensed it as well, gets up to leave. But she doesn't let go of his hand.

Gin smiles apologetically. She knows this smile, his wistful smile, that she's seen since she was a child. It is Gin at his truest. His smile says to her, _I'm sorry, Rangiku, when will you understand I can't stay?_

He is standing now, and he raises he raises her hand to his lips, kissing it playfully before letting go, he says, "See ya soon, Ran-hime."

He is gone before she can blink.

A/N:

Hi ! All of you nice people who bother to read this, I'd love it if you would drop a review and let me know how I'm doing (especially those of you who have it on story alert :D). Also, I take requests and such, if there is anything GinRan you would particularly like to read.


	3. The Prince and his Princess

Once upon a time, outside the Sereitei, in a small shack on the outskirts of the villages, a small girl sits awake, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain.

"Gin! Gin! Tell me a story! Gin! Gin! Gin!" a very young Rangiku chants, shaking the thin frame of a boy who is sleeping soundly on the floor.

His eyes, blue-green like an ocean, snap open suddenly, and Rangiku stops shaking him, sitting frozen, startled by what she sees.

Gin smiles sleepily and his eyes disappear, into the familiar smiling face Rangiku has come to know, and he props himself up on one arm, agreeing,"Okay, Ran-chan, what kinda story do ya wanna hear?"

Delighted, Ragiku clasps her hand together, deep in thought. Finally, she decides.

"Tell me a story about a princess!"

"Ran-chaannn..."

"Gin! Gin! Gin! Tell the story!" Rangiku pouts, tugging insistently on his robes.

"Okay, okay," says Gin, rubbing his head thoughtfully, "Once, there was a real pretty princess, an' she lived in a huge castle! She had lots of food ta' eat an' lots of warm blankets! An' all she had ta' do all day was sit there and look pretty an' eat, and sleep in her warm blankets! An' a prince lived in the castle too! An' they lived happily ever after!"

Gin smiles happily, proud of himself, and looks at Rangiku for approval.

Rangiku makes a face at him, "That's a dumb story, Gin! Tell one where the prince goes away!"

"Ran-chan, how do ya think of this stuff!"

"Tell it!" the princess commands.

Gin frowns, deep in thought, and begins again, "This other time, there was a real pretty princess, an' she lived in huge castle, but she had no food ta' eat an' not enough blankets. An' a prince lived with her, an' one day he left."

Gin looks at Rangiku doubtfully, but she nods, her eyes wide with attention,"Keep going!"

Gin sighs, but continues, a bit of his smile returning, "The prince left, ya see, 'cuz he had ta' find food and blankets for the princess. He used ta' get a little bit of food and bring it back, but the princess wasn't as happy as princesses oughtta' be, so he went more and more far to search."

"And? Where does he go? Does he meet an evil wizard?"

Gin's frown deepens, "He goes to a big white wall. And one day, a wizard comes from tha wall, and tells the prince if he comes to that side of tha wall an' works for tha wizard, he'll have food and blankets forever, but he can't ever come outta' the wall again, says tha wizard, 'cuz ya see, the prince never tells tha wizard 'bout tha princess."

Gin peers at Rangiku, who looks like she is about to cry, "And then what?"

"Well, the prince goes into the wall, and the princess gets a castle with all tha' food an' blankets ever, and the prince comes back, and they live happily ever after in the castle!"

Rangiku wails, "But Gin! What about the wizard? What about the wall? How did the prince come back?"

Gin looks upset, "I don't know, Ran-chan, it's just a story!"

"You aren't telling the part where he has to go back again!" she says, her eyes welling with tears.

Gin, perhaps because he is a bit older and perhaps because he knows what parts of it aren't a story, wraps his thin arms around his princess, and rocks her till she falls asleep.

"Ran-chan," he says very quietly, listening to her soft breathing, "I promise I'll never tell a sad story again."

And it is a full two years before he leaves for the sereitei. He doesn't come back, and there is no castle, but for the next two years, all of Rangiku's bedtime stories are excellent.


	4. Black Mamba

A/N: Ever wonder what younger alky Rangiku saw in Gin??

* * *

**The Black Mamba (**_**dendroaspis polyepis)**_** : the fastest moving snake in the world, also among the most venomous of all the world's snakes.**

Everyone knows that Ichimaru Gin is a mystery.

One might say that out of everyone in the sereitei, Matsumoto Rangiku knows him the best. This is true in part; Matsumoto Rangiku knew him first. She knows a side of him most have not seen, a Gin whose smile was more true, a Gin who was more innocent.

But there is another Gin. It's the face she hears about only in whispers, ghost stories, of a small, pale boy with translucent skin cutting down bodies in the night, covered in blood and grinning.

As the years pass, so do the hisses in the night, until Aizen-taichou's child prodigy is a child no longer, he has grown into a man. The boy who was once on everyone's mind now roams freely through the night, slipping through the cracks, never at the forefront, but always there, hovering, insidiously.

Rangiku grows too, and as Gin slides into the shadows, Rangiku steps out of herself. Loud, fun, Rangiku, always the life of the party. Rangiku, who was once like a delicate fawn standing for the first time, unsure, reaching out into the world, and finding Gin.

.

**I.**

They bumped into each other awkwardly, both grabbing a late lunch at the practically empty mess hall. Rangiku scooped leftovers from lunch into her plate as Gin cast a quick glance around. The only other person in the room was Hanatarou, who scurried out the second Gin's gaze falls on him. Only then did he acknowledge her.

"Rangiku," he said, with that ever present smile and a slight nod.

"Ichimaru-fukutaichou," she replied, playfully pushing past him as she moved toward the tables.

"Ara," he said, raising his eyebrows, pretending to be offended, "So tha's how it is?"

She broke as he slid into the seat across from her. She knew subconsciously that their time together was too precious to be wasted on games.

"Gin, it's been a while," she said, an air of seriousness pervading her words.

Gin smiled vaguely, "Too busy partyin' ta' visit yer old friend, eh? S'ok, I'll live."

The two old friends laughed, at the real joke, they both knew Gin was the busy one.

They ate their lunches, catching up on trivialities. Rangiku told him about the new drinking game Captain Kyouraku invented, Gin smiled and commented on the weather. He never mentioned Aizen, which was just as well.

A shinigami from the 5th division ran up to their table, panting, out of breath.

"I-Ichimaru fukutaichou!" he choked out, "Aizen-taichou left to the other world on business, no one is on duty… There's a hollow attack by the wall! He said if anything should happen we should get you right away!"

Gin stood up, combining speed and languidity in a way that only he could do. Rangiku followed suit, her hand drifting towards the hilt of haineko, ready to follow him to the end of the world.

He shook his head, amused, "Finish yer lunch, Matsumoto-san," he said, with that lyrical tilt to his voice that made Rangiku want to kill him and kiss him in the same instant. It was half an order, issued from vice captain to a subordinate, meant to be followed. It was half a warning, issued from a friend to a friend, if Gin was ever that to anyone. And underneath it all, he was pleading with her to let it all go and follow him. As it always was with Gin, she could only guess at what he really wanted.

He was gone in a split-second, shyunpo stepping away, but he made no attempt to hide his spirit energy. Naturally, Rangiku decided to follow.

.

**II.**

"Ikkorose, shinsou."

There was no setup, no warning, for what she saw. There was a creature, whether it was human or hollow, she couldn't tell, it was some kind of sick chimera. One blink and it was gone. As it collapsed, the creature let out a shrieking wail, infused with a kind of desperation and panic Rangiku had never heard from any hollow.

Another blink and all she saw was a white wraith approaching her, sheathing his sword. All she heard was the echo of a scream. All she could smell was blood in the air.

"What did you see?" the wraith grinned.

Her heart thudding in her ears, Rangiku replied, her voice steady, "Nothing."

.

**III.**

The next time she saw him, they were at a bar, in the middle of a raucous party. She had just finished her last bottle of sake for the night, before the bartender cut her off, with a well meaning "Go home, Rangiku."

She smiled at the bartender, wanting to say something about how she drinks to fill the emotionless void, she drinks to feel the rush. It came out as a slurred "Thanks", and she stumbled out towards the exit.

Rangiku walked right into something as hard as a wall, and she looked up. Seeing it was Gin, she swallowed the "Sorry" at the tip of her tongue, and opted for a drunken smile.

He walked her out, supporting all of her weight as she leaned on him, one arm slung over his shoulders. She only managed to stagger a steps away from the exit, not making it very far before she pushed him against the wall of the back alley and looked up at him, her world spinning.

She pressed her lips against his, smelling like sake. At first rigid, he slowly melted into her, but just as he deepened the kiss, she broke off, a wave of nausea overcoming her, as she staggered away.

They stood in the back alley of the bar, surrounded by dirt mixed with pure white snow. Gin had one arm wrapped protectively around her stomach, holding her up as she wretches, but nothing comes up. The nausea passed, and she leaned against the wall, looking at him.

For a second, the Gin there with her was the same young boy she knew as a child, and that Gin brushed the hair out of her eyes, kissing her. She pulled back.

"They say it's like drinking poison," she said, laughing hollowly, "Is it like tasting a snake?"

"Ran-chan," he asked, looking a little amused, "Why would ya do somethin' ya know is bad for ya?"

Rangiku pulled him in by the collar, capturing his lips in another deep kiss.

"It's fun."


End file.
